simoom

simoom simoon (sɪˈmuːn) noun

1. a strong suffocating sand-laden wind of the deserts of Arabia and North AfricaAlso called: samiel

Word Origin for simoom from Arabic samūm poisonous, from sam poison, from Aramaic sammā poison Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Related Words for simoom sandstorm, devil, duster, harmattan, khamsin, samiel, shaitan, simoom, sirocco Examples from the Web for simoom Historical Examples of simoom

But I’d as lief encounter a West India hurricane or a simoom.

Continental Monthly, Vol. III, No IV, April 1863

Various

This was soon after; and along with the morning light had come the cessation of the simoom.

The Boy Slaves

Mayne Reid

This great domain of the simoom has every diversity of surface.

Wealth of the World’s Waste Places and Oceania 

Jewett Castello Gilson

I dare not face it, any more than I would the blast of the simoom.

The Rifle Rangers

Captain Mayne Reid

Indeed, every appearance warranted me in apprehending a Simoom.

The Works of Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe

Word Origin and History for simoom n.

“hot, dry desert wind,” 1790, from Arabic samum “a sultry wind,” literally “poisonous,” from samma “he poisoned,” from sam “poison.”

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper